THUNDERBIRDS

T-Birds deal Ormsby to rival Silvertips

Nov 2, 2017, 4:15 PM | Updated: Nov 7, 2017, 1:09 pm

The Thunderbirds traded right wing Luke Ormsby, a native of Monroe, Wash., to the Everett Silvertips in exchange for a ninth-round selection in the 2018 Bantam Draft, the team announced Thursday.

Ormsby, 18, had announced via Twitter on Monday that he would be departing the T-Birds to join the BCHL’s Wenatchee Wild. A Washington native, it appeared that Ormsby wanted to remain close to home but did not figure heavily into Seattle’s future plans. With the trade to Everett, he earns a chance at more ice time and will be playing even closer to his hometown.

In 80 WHL regular season games, Ormsby accumulated 12 points on six goals and six assists, but had failed to register a point in 11 games this season. As Seattle is a young team who is rebuilding much of their forward group this season, it was difficult to see where someone like Ormsby, who is 18 but still playing mostly third- and fourth-line minutes, fit in long-term. The T-Birds seemed more interested in getting ice time for some of their younger forwards, such as Holden Katzalay, Tyler Carpendale, Nikita Malukhin, Dillon Hamaliuk and Samuel Huo.

With Wednesday’s departure of 17-year-old center Elijah Brown and the Ormsby trade, Seattle has opened up a substantial amount of ice time for their up-and-coming forwards in a span of less than a week.

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